Roller and wrist pin construction for rotary engines



Dec. 18, 1962 A. PETERSEN 3,063,709

ROLLER AND WRIST PIN CONSTRUCTION FOR ROTARY ENGINES Filed Jan. 15, 19603 Sheets-Sheet l Fig Fig. 2

Axel L. Petersen 1 N VEN TOR.

BY an W 39m,

Dec. 18, 1962 A. PETERSEN ROLLER AND WRIST PIN CONSTRUCTION FOR ROTARYENGINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 15, 1960 \YAM m Al 2 5 w Axel L.Petersen INVENTOR. 401 i). BY w Dec. 18, 1962 A. L PETERSEN 3,058,709

ROLLER AND WRIST PIN CONSTRUCTION FOR ROTARY ENGINES Filed Jan. 15, 19605 Sheets-Sheet 3 F fg. 6 508 206 R 24 Fig-I0 I! 240 INVNTOR.

3,068,769 Patented Dec. 18, 1962 3,068,709 ROLLER AND WRIST PINCUNSTRUCTIGN FOR ROTARY ENGINES Axel L. Petersen, Rte. 1, Box 156-3,Indie, Calif. Filed Jan. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 2,751 10 Claims. (Cl. 74-57) This invention comprises a novel and useful roller and wrist pinconstruction for rotary engines, and more par ticularly relates to aninternal combustion engine of the rotating cylinder type wherein pistonsreciprocating in the cylinders convert their reciprocatory movement intorotary motion of a drive shaft through a cam mechanism connecting thepistons to the drive shaft.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a rotary internalcombustion engine wherein a plurality of pistons disposed in parallelrelation may be operatively connected to a power take-off shaft in animproved manner such that each piston may impart the power produced by aplurality of reciprocations to the power take-off shaft during onerotation of the latter.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a rotaryinternal combustion engine of the cam mechanism type which shall have acam mechanism connecting the rotating and reciprocating pistons to apower shaft in such a manner as to provide for a greatly increased lifeof the cam connecting mechanism and a greatly increased efficiencytransmitting reciprocatory motion of the pistons to rotating motion ofthe cam shaft.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an internalcombustion engine in accordance with the preceding objects which shallbe relatively simple in construction, mechanically easy to assemble ordisassemble, and shall be highly efiicient for the purposes intended.

These, together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent, reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a suitable embodiment of aninternal combustion engine incorporating therein the principles of thisinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal central sectional view taken substantially uponthe plane indicated by the section line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 and showing theinternal construction of the engine and a portion of the cam trackappearing in dotted lines therein;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary view taken upon an enlarged scale at themid-portion of a cylinder and piston as shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view in vertical transverse section taken substantiallyupon the plane indicated by the section line 44 of FIGURE 2 and at rightangles to FIGURE 3 and showing further details of the piston pin and thecam follower mechanism of the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of one of the elements of the cammechanism;

FIGURE 6 is a top plan view of the top cam follower;

FIGURE 7 is a detail view taken at right angles to FIGURE 4 and showingthe upper cam follower;

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing a modifiedconstruction;

FIGURE 9 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantiallyupon the plane indicated by the section line 9-9 of FIGURE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of the cam slide employed in theconstruction of FIGURE 8.

In the accompanying drawings, for simplicity of illustration inunderstanding the principles of this invention, there has been disclosedan internal combustion engine.

It will be understood, however, that various features of this invention,particularly the means used for operatively transmitting the powerderived from the various fluids and gases to the power shaft attached tothe rotor of the engine, have utility and may be successfully employedwith other devices than internal combustion engines, as, for example,with air motors, pumps, steam engines and the like.

Referring first to FIGURES 1-5, it will be seen that the engine,designated generally by the numeral 10, consists of a stator or outsidecasing 12, a rotor in the form of a cylindrical drum 14 therein, and apower shaft 16 which is directly connected with the rotor.

The stator comprises a preferably cylindrical casing which at its bottomportion is laterally enlarged to provide a base or mounting flange 18which, by means of bolts 19, constitutes a mounting means for securingthe device upon any suitable support.

The stator 12 which forms the outer casing previously mentioned has acylindrical inner surface 20 which bounds a cylindrical openingextending horizontally through the casing and within which the rotor 14and the transmission mechanism are received. The casing includes a pairof removable end Walls 22 and 24, the former having a journal andbearing assembly 26 through which power shaft 16 extends. The casing endwalls 22 and 24 are separably secured togethed as by suitable bolts 25extending therethrough as suggested in FIGURE 1.

The other end wall 24, at its central portion, is provided with anintegral inwardly projecting cylindrical sleeve 32 which is re-enteredinto the casing and which communicates with the exterior of thecasing'at its outer end as shown in FIGURE 2. This sleeve has an outersurface 34 which is concentric with the inner surface 20 of the statorcasing and with the axis of the power shaft 16, the sleeve constitutinga stationary core about which the rotor 14 is caused to revolve. Theinner extremity of the sleeve 32 terminates in spaced relation from theother end wall 22 to provide a chamber or space therebetween which isoccupied by a fan 36 which serves the dual functions of inducting acirculation of air through the hollow sleeve of the stator to the insideof the rotor through the central opening 35 in the end wall 22 and alsoserves to support and connect the rotor 14 to the shaft 16. Other fanblades, as at 37, induct air around the outside of the rotor and throughthe stator 12.

The rotor 14 consists of a cylindrical body or annulus which has acylindrical opening extending axially therethrough as shown by thenumeral 39, so that the sleeve 32 is received within this opening andthe rotor is received between the sleeve and the casing. A bearingassembly 40 carried by the sleeve 32 adjacent the wall 24 serves torotatably journal and support the end of the rotor, the other end of thelatter being carried by the journaling of the shaft 16 in the bearingassembly 26. The rotor is thus mounted for rotation about the horizontalaxis which is the center of the sleeve 32 and of the stator.

Extending axially through the rotor area plurality of cylindrical bores42. which are disposed parallel to each other and to the axis ofrotation of the rotor and are equidistant from the latter. These borescomprise the Working cylinders of the engine. The bores open at theopposite ends of the rotor and suitable annular packing or sealing rings44 are provided for the opposite ends of these bores, these packingrings having sliding engagement with the inner faces of the end plates22 and 24 to establish a fluid-tight sealed engagement therewith.Inasmuch as the invention set forth and claimed herein does not requireany particular construction of packing or sealing rings, a furtherdescription and explanation of the sameis deemed to be unnecessary.

Slidable in each of the cylinders 42 is a double ended or double headedreciprocating piston 46 which likewise could be of any suitableconstruction. Disposed medially and'diametrically of each of the doubleended pistons is a piston pin and cam follower assembly to bemorespecifically described and claimed hereinafter and which alsoprojects through the diametrically disposed longitudinally extendingslots 50 formed in the outer circumference of the rotor 14 and thecorresponding slots 52 formed in the inner circumference thereof. Theopposite ends of piston pins are received in concentric outer and innercam tracks to -behereinafter described and which are carried by thestator so that in response to the application of propulsion fluid to theopposite ends of the pistons, the reciprocation of the latter in thecylinders will in turn reciprocate the piston pins in the slots 50 and52 of each cylinder causing the pins to react against an annularstationary cam member 53 attached to the stator 12 and the stationarycam track 58 formed in the reentrant sleeve 32 of the end wall 24 toeffect rotation of the rotor.

The mechanism by which the reciprocating pins have their .reciprocatorymovement converted into rotation of the shaft 16 consists of a camtransmission comprising a pair of cam members. The outer cam membercomprises an annulus or ring 53 which is disposed within the innersurface 20 of the stator and is detachably secured thereto and mountedthereon as by fastening bolts 54, see FIG- URE 1. A sinuous cam grooveor track 56, see also FIGURE 3, is formed in that surface of the ring 53which is adjacent to the rotor and surrounds the latter. A similar andcomplementary cam surface or cam track 58 is formed in the outer surfaceof the stationary sleeve 32 and is complementary to the track 56.

7 It will be understood that the two stationary cam tracks 56 and 58 arenecessarily identical and are of a wavy contour, having a series ofreaches of maximum axial extent in one direction interspersed with otherreaches of maximum axial extent in the other direction, there being anydesired number of these reaches along the circumference of the cammembers. It will thus be apparent that the cam followers, to behereinafter described, carried by the extremities of the piston pins,when riding in these stationary cam tracks, will cause the pistons to bemoved in a reciprocating manner longitudinally of their respectivecylinders when the rotoris caused to rotate. Conversely, when thepistons are reciprocated, the reciprocating'cam followers, bytheirengagement in the stationary' cam tracks, will cause therotor toturn, thus giving power to the shaft 16. Obviously any desired number ofcylinders and any desired number of pairs of cam latter. r

will be provided for igniting the combustible charges sup plied to theengine. For that purpose, there are provided spark plugs, such asindicated at 80, and to which an ignition current is supplied as by aconductor 82 from V any suitable source of ignition, not shown.

The fan 36 previously mentioned can advantageousiy function to supplycooling air through the interior of the rotor and sleeve while fanblades 37 on the rotor cause. its

a flow of cooling air between the rotor and stator. simple and rapidmode of. assembly and disassembly is illustrated in FIGURE 2.

The cam transmission of this invention, which consti- Elongated camfollowers 108, see FIGURE 6, are jour-q naled upon the bearings 106 ofthe slide 105. The bearings of the slide 104 are internally threaded, asat 109, and having circular cam portions 122 journaled thereon;

The pins 102 have an integral retaining head 110 at one end thereof,which, as shown in FIGURE 4, is seated into a recessed portion of thefollower 108, while the other end of the pin has a removable, similarlyheaded extremity i 112 provided with an externally threaded stem 114received in the internally threaded bore 116 of the piston pin and athreaded portion which engages within the internally threaded bushing109, see FIGURE 5.

It will be further observed by a comparison of FIG: URES 3, 4 and 5 thatthe outer surfaces of the cam followers 108 are reversely tapered sothat theywill fit in and be slidably received in and be retained in thecam tracks 56. From FIGURE 3, it will be seen that the cam track 56 hasits sides inwardly convergent, while the cam track 58 has its sidesoutwardly convergent, the followers being accordingly appropriatelytapered or inclined. The elon:

elongated cam followers 108 and the circular cam follow- Z ers 122 willride in the cam tracks 56 and5'8, respectively; e Owing to theirelongated shape, the followers 108 will' have a much greater bearingarea with the walls of their cam tracks, thus greatly strengthening'theconstruction Annular sealing rings as at; 64 and 66 are provided at theopposite sides of the outer cam track 56, being received incircumferentially extending channels or slots in the concave surface ofthe ring 53 and in the convex surface of the rotor 14 adjacent thereto.Similarly, a second set of annular sealing rings as at 68 and 70 areprovided gbetween the sleeve 32 and the adjacent surface of the rotorfor the same purpose.

These rings serve toretain lubricants applied in any desired manner tothe piston and to the transmission mechanism at the areas which it sdesired to lubricate, as will be apparent from FIGURE Z.

Any desired means is provided for delivering propulwill be eductedtherefrom. Similarl any desired means Inasmuch as the When the engine isto be used as an internal combustion V sive. fluid in timed relationinto the opposite ends of the 7 cylinders and for educting the sametherefrom, whereby to impartreciprocation to the pistons.

and minimizing the effects'of wear thereon.

Referring again to FIGURES 1 and 2, itwill be ob served that the statorhas a removable plug in its side wall, which plug is engaged inregistering screw-- threaded apertures 142 in the stator and 144 in thecam ring 53. This plug is disposed so that upon properros tation oftherotor 14,the successivepiston pins willbe 122 drops into the innercam track 58 'and the shoe-104 fits in the cylinder slot '52. 'The uppershoe is likewise placed in the piston cylinder, then into theouter-Learn. track before the piston is inserted into the cylinder. 7The elongatedcam follower is then inserted through the opening 140...The piston pin 102 is theninserted through the 7 opening 140 and isinserted through the two shoes S and 104 and the followers 108, 122,being secured by the threads 116.

In this manner, easy assembly and disassembly of the piston pin, camfollower and pistons of the engine are possible.

In the preceding embodiment, it will be observed that the cam followershave a sliding frictional engagement with both side wall of their camtracks. In the modifications of FIGURES 8-10, there is disclosed anarrangement in which this sliding frictional engagement is replaced withthe rolling contact. For this purpose each cam follower has a pair ofrollers, each roller engaging one side wall only of the associated camtrack.

The cylinder block, cylinder and the cam track construction is identicalwith that previously described and the same reference numerals areapplied to identical elements. However, the double-ended pistons 200 areeach provided with a pair of parallel, longitudinally spaced diametricalbores 202 therethrough which receive a pair of piston pins 204.

One end of each piston pin 204 is headed at 206 and provided with a kerfof notch 208 for engagement by a screwdriver or other suitable tool. Theother end of each pin is bored and internally threaded at 210 for thereception of the shank 212 of a headed screw 214 which is likewisenotched at 216.

Slidable in the cylinder slots 50, 52 are elongated slides 218 and 220,respectively, see FIGURE 10, having each a pair of bores 222 throughwhich are slidably received the pins 204. As will be apparent fromFIGURE 9, one face of each slide 218 and 220 is provided with anelongated groove 224 which is concave in cross-section for snuglyreceiving the side of the piston 200.

The slides 218 and 220 have each a pair of sleeves or collars 228 and230 rising therefrom on the face opposite the groove 224, which collarsserve as journals for the bearing assemblies, carrying cam rollers 240.It will be noted that the rollers 240 on the slide 218 engage oppositeundercut side walls of the cam track 56 while those of the slide 220engage correspondingly the side walls of the cam track 58. Thus, eachroller engages only one side wall of a cam track, thereby reducingfriction and wear therebetween and permitting the use of roller bearingswhich move continuously in only one direction.

It will be seen that each roller 240 of the slide 218 is retainedagainst axial movement upon its pin 204 by endwise abutting engagementof its bearing assembly 232 with the enlarged pin head 206 and with theslide 218. The rollers of the slide 220 are similarly retained betweenthe slide 220 and the headed screw 214. It will be observed that thecollars 228 and 230 of the slide 220 are internally threaded fordetachably receiving therein the externally threaded portion 242 of theheaded screw 214. The screws 214 thereby operate to retain the inner camfollowers or rollers 240 on the slides 220 and the slides 218 and 220with their rollers 240 against the sides of the piston.

The operation of this form of the invention, except for the provision ofa separate cam roller to engage each side wall of the cam tracks 56 and58, is identical with that of the preceding embodiment and the manner ofassembly is likewise the same.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention asclaimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

51. An apparatus for converting reciprocatory to rotary motioncomprising a pair of concentric inner and outer cylindrical membersdisposed about a common axis, complementary cam tracks comprisingchannels disposed in the adjacent surfaces of said members, a pluralityof reciprocating elements disposed in side by side relation andequidistantly spaced from said axis and positioned between said members,a body having cylinders in each of which one of said elements isguidably and slidably received, means mounting said body for rotationabout said axis, said body having pairs of oppositely disposed axiallyextending guide slots disposed in said body and opening each pair with acylinder, said elements having diametrically disposed pins guidingly andslidably extended through said slots, cam followers on the ends of eachpin slidably received in said complementary cam tracks, bushings on saidpins journaling the latter in said slots, said cam followers beingjournaled on said bushings.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said followers of each pin aredisposed respectively outwardly and inwardly of said body.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pins each have a head seatedin one follower for retaining the latter and a screw-threaded nut seatedin and retaining the other follower.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said bushings have diametricallyreduced extremities extending into said tracks, said followers beingjournaled upon said extremities.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein the followers received in theouter cam track are elongated in the direction of their movement in saidtrack.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein the follower received in the innercam track is circular and both of said followers and their associatedtracks have their opposite side walls complemental and tapered.

7. The combination of claim 1 wherein each cam follower includes a pairof rollers, each roller having rolling engagement with one side wallonly of a cam track.

8. The combination of claim 1 including a pair of axially spaceddiametrically disposed pins in each element, a slide disposed on each ofthe opposite ends of said pair of pins and slidably received in one ofsaid slots, a pair of rollers journaled on said slide and each rollerengaging one only of the opposite side walls of a cam track.

9. The combination of claim 1 wherein the inner and outer cam trackshave their walls reversely inclined.

10. The combination of claim 1 wherein the followers received in theouter cam track are elongated in the direction of their movement in saidouter track, said inner and outer cam tracks having their side wallsreversely inclined said followers having inclined side surfacescomplementary to the side walls of the associated cam tracks- ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,052,569 CherryFeb. 11, 1913- 1,177,126 Miller Mar. 26, 1916-. 1,276,346 Gould Aug. 20,19181 1,382,485 Lukacsevics June 21, 1921 1,518,707 Sleeper Dec. 9,1924- -1,614,476 Hutchinson Jan. 18, 1927 1,762,650 Boughton June 10,1930 1,824,938 Voorhees Sept. 29, 1931 1,906,818 Seufert May 2, 1933-2,2l6,990 Taylor Oct. 8, 1940 2,770,140 Palumbo Nov. '13, 1953 2,908,186Meyer Oct. 13, 1959 2,948,265 Jensen et a1. Aug. 9, 1960 2,949,100Petersen Aug. 16, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 22,822 Great Britain Oct. 16,1911 of 1911 734,288 France July 26, 1932

